


The Great Haircut Project

by sleepygirl0305



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Badass Cosette, Cosette Fauchelevent & Grantaire Friendship, M/M, also really wholesome grantaire, also slight sexual content, cosette is also a hairdresser so there's that, cosette is sneaky and what about it?, enjolras cannot keep it in his pants and all irrational thinking flies out the window, grantaire looks A+ in an undercut, nothing too crazy just some ~tension~ being broken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28681518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepygirl0305/pseuds/sleepygirl0305
Summary: Cosette enlists Grantaire to be her human guinea pig as she learns to cut hair. She does a pretty damn good job, if she's going by how Enjolras reacts at meetings.Focused on Grantaire and Cosette developing a friendship, with heavy content of Enjolras and Grantaire skirting around each other.
Relationships: Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy, Cosette/Marius background, Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Misérables)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 122





	The Great Haircut Project

**Author's Note:**

> this was a main excuse to write cosette and what about it? i love her so much. she's so underrated. also, grantaire with an undercut would be A+ and yes, enjolras would go nuts over it. cosette and grantaire would have a wonderful friendship. actually, this was partially based on a friendship i have in real life, and i am very grateful for that friendship.

It begins as Grantaire is really early to meet up with Courfeyrac in the apartment he shares with Marius. Courf had just gotten his hands on two rare bottles of wine, and they planned to try to cook a meal to try with one of them. 

But his friend ran a little late from class, and Grantaire was already really early, so he surmised he’d just sit and wait at the apartment (which was kept unlocked for him) and sketch. Maybe write a little poem. Draw a head of blond hair tied in a red ribbon, which he had seen last week at a meeting.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, and let himself into the building.

He made his way up the stairs, and opened the door to Courf and Marius’ apartment, glad for a little bit of alone time.

Which is immediately interrupted when his eyes fall on Cosette intently studying a mannequin head with a wig.

He blinks, and feels a bit of sinking in his stomach. Don’t get him wrong, he  _ likes  _ Cosette, based on the one time he met her. But she’d only been dating Marius now for a few months, and he didn’t really know her. So it would be small talk unless they were both fine with doing whatever they wanted to do, and he didn’t know her well enough if she would.

“Hello, Grantaire,” she greeted, “What brings you here?”

“Hello, Cosette,” he returned, “I’m supposed to be with Courf to cook something with him, but I’m really early and he’s late, so -- wait, sorry, what are you doing?”

“I’m waiting for Marius to come back from work so we can head to the movies.”

“No, no,” he said, gesturing at her set-up as he sat down. He didn’t realize how odd it was until it sunk in that she was studying a mannequin head with a black wig, as if deciding how to win a debate or convince it to buy a microwave. From any perspective, it’s odd. “What do you have going on over there? Sorry, the mannequin head took me by surprise.”

“Oh.” She laughed, a tinkling bell, “Sorry, I forget that it’s weird to anyone else but me. I’m learning to cut a bob. It’s not something I’m extremely good at, so I wanted to practice on a wig.”

This takes him by surprise, mostly because it’s not something he would have expected. Though then again, he doesn’t know her very well, “You’re learning to cut hair?”

“I  _ do  _ cut hair.” she corrected, “I work part-time at the salon downtown, mostly as an assistant. I usually wash hair or help out with dye jobs, I help with the occasional hair trim. But recently I’ve really wanted to actually cut hair, so I’m learning how.”

“That’s pretty cool, actually.” 

“Thank you,” she grinned, “It’s different from my usual job. But it relaxes me.”

He decides that furthering the conversation wouldn’t harm him, because he is quite interested, “And what would you recommend I do for this bird’s nest?” he gestures at his head, “I have been told time and time again by barbers that it’s an impossible case.”

She frowned, “You have only had poor barbers, then. Hair is never impossible, you can always do something nice with it.”

She stood up and walked towards Grantaire. As she stood, he remembered how petite she was. She was nearly a foot shorter than him, and it showed as she studied his hair.

“Now,” she mused, “there are some cuts I think would look great on you. Curly hair is so much fun to work with. I think I’d first just pilot a shorter haircut on you, so you highlight your face more.”

He’s surprised. He didn’t think she’d actually have a response, “Oh. Well, I haven’t had a haircut in a while. My last barber nearly butchered my hair, so I’ll keep that in mind when I find a new one.”

Her eyes lit up, “Wait. I have a proposition for you.”

Now Grantaire was interested. Marius had mentioned that Cosette had good ideas, and now that he’s seeing it in action, he couldn’t help but feel intrigued.

“I don’t really like working with mannequins,” she explained, “It’s not the same as a human. I’ve wondered about finding a human guinea pig who’s willing to let me cut their hair whenever they’d want so I can practice. I won’t charge you or anything because it would be purely experimental, but I promise you I  _ am  _ good enough to not butcher or complain about your hair-”

He grins at her ear-to-ear: “You had me at no cost.”

+

As it would turn out, this arrangement is extremely beneficial to the both of them. With the exception of Courfeyrac and Eponine, Cosette had little opportunity to get to know the rest of the Amis. 

From afar, the two seem like an odd pair. Courf made the observation as he watched the first haircut occur, “You know, the two of you are on the extremes in terms of personality. If Grantaire is a cranky old shrew, Cosette is the Sleeping Beauty.”

But then Cosette finished the first haircut, which was just a shorter version of the long mane he already had. She had turned his front curls into bangs that fell just slightly above his eyes. As she handed him the mirror, high praise came quickly.

“Holy  _ shit,  _ Cosette. I don’t think I’ve liked my hair more than I have at this moment.” He said, admiring the view. On the couch, Courf and Marius voiced their positivity for the look, and she could not help but feel an immense pride over the praise. 

After that, Grantaire pops by once a month to have his hair cut to whatever Cosette feels to her fancy. One time, it’s a man bun that she particularly likes (“I have never seen anyone pull a man bun off like you!”) and another time, it’s a shoulder-cut. Eventually, they both come over to the apartment even if there is no hair to cut. 

Sometimes, the two of them will sit in silence, enjoying the time. And over time, Cosette begins to enjoy the conversations with him. For all his self-deprecation, Grantaire is exceedingly intelligent with anything regarding art. He knows every single ballet she mentions, and memorizes Shakespeare without hesitation. One day, he sketches her as she talks about how to commit the perfect dye job, and she fawns over his talent. She keeps the sketch pinned in her room, now.

Meanwhile, Grantaire is grateful for her presence. Marius wasn’t wrong for how he fell in love with her at first sight. She is a  _ light,  _ and easy to talk to. And she is much more mischievous than she seems on the surface. At their fourth haircut, Cosette feigns that she miserably screwed up his haircut, watched him panic for a good 10 minutes, and then proceeded to laugh at him.

One night, long after Courf and Marius have gone to bed, their conversations take a deeper turn as he starts to speak about his uphill battle with alcoholism. How he was trying to stop, but kept finding reasons to turn to the bottle. How he’s stumbled into class hungover more times than he can count.

Neither of them expect it, but Grantaire sobs harder than he ever has before. He’s talked about it casually with many people. Hell, his roommates witness it on the regular. With Cosette, however, he trembles from the weight of the conversation. But she clasps his big hands in her two smaller ones, whispers to him that he is stronger than he will ever know, and suddenly, he believes it.

+

It’s maybe in the fifth month since she started cutting his hair that she notices Enjolras and his...not-subtle reactions.

A day after she gives Grantaire’s most recent haircut (a light undercut leaving the top extraordinarily fluffy, which was now her new favorite), she walks into the Musain with her laptop and purse. She still does not go to meetings often, but makes time where she can. Now that she’s becoming friendlier with Grantaire, she likes coming to the meetings because of him.

(He once privately said to Cosette that her presence at the meetings relaxes him. Makes him less likely to start fights with their blond leader, because Enjolras’ over-optimism grates at him. Makes him reach for the bottle less. She was brave as he said this, but as soon as she came home, she sobbed in bed, never thinking she’d find a friend in this man.)

Grantaire walks in a few minutes later, hair covered in snowflakes from outside. Cosette waves him over to an empty seat next to her, and after he takes a seat, her eyes wander over to the front of the room where Enjolras sits.

It’s totally an accident, because it’s as Combeferre is clearing his throat to start the meeting. However, she is so glad that she turned. Incredibly glad. Because Enjolras takes in R’s haircut, eyes never leaving him as the other man takes a seat, and visibly  _ swallows.  _

Unconsciously, she raises an eyebrow and feels herself smirk. She feels an unmistakable pride knowing that her work, and her styling, was the reason for the very dark flush on Enjolras’ face. 

She has to suppress a laugh when she sees him abruptly shift his legs to cross them. Cosette already knew that Grantaire looked great with the cut, but now that she knew it got the other man bothered, she was going to make his life miserable.

+

“What do you think of Enjolras?” She asks him casually a few days after.

He looks up from his laptop, where he’s tackling a paper, but she doesn’t miss the way his pupils dilate ever so slightly and his shoulders tense a little. And she immediately understands. Oh, fantastic.

His answer slightly disappoints her, “He annoys the living daylights out of me. You’ve seen us fight at the last meeting, the one where he was insistent that meat needed to be immediately eradicated and taken away from everyone.”

Huh. Fair enough, she did think that it was a very inane cause.

“Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen more than my fair share of bullshit. Hearing him talk about what he’s passionate about, especially if it’s ridiculous and unattainable, sets me on edge,” he explained, waving his hands in the air, “As a person, I’m sure he’s fine. I just haven’t had a chance to really interact with him.”

“Alright.” She knew how to play this game. Grantaire tried to be subtle, but he was about as subtle as an explosion. She shrugged and returned to her book.

It takes a total of five minutes before he sighs and puts his pencil down again. She knows it’s coming.

“Damn it. Cosette, you know I can’t lie to you. So here’s what I  _ actually _ feel about him.” Then he launched into a 30-minute rant about despite his overoptimism, it never failed to make him hope, even just a little bit, which was why he shut that down as quickly as possible. And he was frustrated over his eyes, electric as lightning, and how he managed to look good in everything. And that maybe he’d been a little bit in love for years, since they met at the beginning of freshman year. And that his heart pounded whenever the blond man so much looked into his direction. And that he would let Enjolras do anything to him, and soon, she’s covering her ears. (“Goodness, Grantaire, I know we’re friends, but  _ this  _ is too much.”)

And she loves the feeling of a good victory. And while she can’t exactly play matchmaker for this situation, she’ll certainly cut Grantaire’s hair if it’ll duplicate the gaping look Enjolras had a few days before.

+

The sixth month, she tells him that she’ll do the same haircut as last time. 

“I really liked the undercut on you. But the difference is we’ll let the top even be a bit messier, and then I’ll add the slightest amount of hair gel to make it go in the relative same direction.”

Grantaire nodded, “Everyone complimented me on the undercut. And it was personally the easiest to maintain.”

As she started combing out his hair, he tried to start a new topic.

“Cosette, you’re really good. I’d hate to keep taking your talent without anything in return. It doesn’t feel fair. Are you sure I can’t pay you at all?”

“No,” she said firmly, “The lovely conversation we have is payment enough. Trust me, the snobby ladies at the salon are not nearly as fun to talk to. If you’d really like,” she mused, “I’ve been meaning to learn more about wine. It seems something I should really improve on figuring out. If you could maybe teach me after our haircuts, maybe I’d like that?”

She can’t see, but she knows he is smiling.

+

The resulting undercut from the session is a massive success. She’s sitting at the next meeting (partly to come help support the cause, partly to hang out with Grantaire and Marius, and partly to see Enjolras’ reaction) when Grantaire comes walking through the door. The curls on top of his head are sticking out in a formed direction. The short sides bring out his cheekbones and the length of his neck. There are whistles around the room, and she turns his head to Enjolras. 

He’s breathing heavily, and she notes that he’s gripping the edge of the table  _ hard  _ that his knuckles are white _.  _ For the rest of the meeting, as he is speaking to everyone with the same impassioned tone as always, she notes how he falters and stammers when his eyes arrive at the same spot where she and Grantaire sit. When the meeting ends and everyone gets their coffee and drink, she notes how Enjolras keeps staring. Grantaire’s eyes flit towards him a few times, and once, they catch each other, blushing hard as they look down.

There are no arguments between them that day. She considers that a win.

+

Enjolras was not one to notice haircuts right away. Hell, if he’s wrapped up in his work, he won’t notice anything else at all, sometimes. 

But Grantaire’s hair, a stray curl falling to his eyes and the rest sticking up as if the wind raked its fingers right through, was actually going to be the death of him.

It’s not as if the past few months were already frustrating, watching him get new haircuts (the man bun had nearly given him a heart attack). R was always handsome, but the new styling had brought out a newfound confidence in him, having him wear newer, form-fitting clothes that hugged all the right places.

And as much as Enjolras did not want to get rejected, he also knew he wasn’t going to get it out of his mind unless he tried to ask him out.

So the next meeting after the first time he sees the new haircut, he waits for all of their work to finish and for everyone to begin chatting and catching up over coffee. He makes his way towards the table where Grantaire and Cosette are talking, and he clears his throat.

“Sorry, Cosette, I may have to steal him away for a while. Grantaire, could I speak with you please?”

He doesn’t miss the way Cosette smirks just slightly, but he doesn’t really care. Grantaire looks surprised, on the other hand, and stands up with him. Enjolras takes him to the back of the cafe. If he’s going to be rejected, he thinks, it may as well be where no one can see him.

“I-” he began awkwardly. R is looking at him cautiously. “I really like your haircut.”

“Oh,” he chuckles, “Thank you. Cosette’s been using me as her human guinea pig for cutting hair. She’s getting really good.”

“That’s nice,” Enjolras stammers, “Look, uh, if you’re free. Would you...uh, maybe like to have dinner with me tonight?”

Grantaire blinks, taking several double takes before stuttering back, “M-me?”

“Yes. There’s a restaurant near my place, and I remember you mentioning that you like Spanish food, so I figured-”

“Yes.” Grantaire sounds certain. He feels so much relief coursing through his veins.

“Great! Brilliant!” He can’t help but beam, “How’s 8pm for you?”

+

So much for dinner. When Grantaire appears at his apartment, he’s wearing a dark green button down rolled up at the sleeves, black slacks, and dress shoes. His hair is perfect. All ideas of rational thinking falls out the window, and Enjolras gasps slightly as his date walks into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Grantaire asks, eyebrows raised. Enjolras wants nothing more than to mess that perfect hair up. 

He may as well bite the bullet.

“Look, I know it’s the first date,” He started, hesitant, “But I’ve kind of liked you a while. Could...could I kiss you, please?”

R nods fiercely, a dusting of pink fading on his cheeks. So Enjolras awkwardly puts his hands on his shoulders, and kisses him chastely.

And then he finds himself being slammed against his doorframe by Grantaire, and he makes a  _ sound.  _ Somewhere between a moan and a gasp escapes him. He manages to break the kiss and pull R’s hair to navigate him towards his neck. 

“Ah, mm, please, oh my god,  _ please, _ ” He is full-on begging, and he should be embarrassed. He is not. He doesn’t give a damn.

They stumbled to the bedroom, with Enjolras almost breaking the buttons on Grantaire’s button down in the process of removing the shirt, hands exploring the maps of his skin. They fumble on the bed, making out with Enjolras on top of him. It is hot, and considerably the best thing he has ever felt.

“What about dinner?” Grantaire asks when they break apart, shaking him from his reverie. His hair is mussed up, and he’s halfway debauched. It’s a look that he will replay in his head for the next few days.

“I think I would like this more than dinner. But if you want to go, we can.” He said quickly.

Grantaire runs a hand through his hair ( _ damn it _ ), as if to think, before turning to him.

“How’s this, then?”

Then he grabs Enjolras’ hips and slams him down on to his crotch, to make him feel how hard he is. He moans so loud, his hand again flying to the other man’s hair to tug. And after that, the rest of the night is history.

+

Cosette gets a little busy with school, and it’s a little over a month when she next cuts Grantaire’s hair. The curls are wild and all over the place, falling down past his shoulders.

“I am never letting you go without a haircut ever again,” she grumbled, “Look at this. A whole mess!”

“I missed you cutting my hair too,” He admitted, “I got used to the nice haircuts. And it’s nice to catch up with you, ‘Sette.”

She hums as she parts his hair down the middle to comb through, then begins to tie part of his hair, when she notices something on the back and side of his neck. She blinks at first, thinking maybe it’s a birthmark she missed. But no, she’s definitely sure of what it is. There are  _ multiple  _ of them, small red hickeys littering the dark skin. And, she notes, a definite mark of teeth that is a little deep.

She pauses, thinking of a good excuse. Then she grins, wicked and mischievous. 

“So,” she begins innocently, “was Enjolras as good in bed as you suspected?”

The man in the seat splutters, stumbling to stand up and stare at her with wide eyes. His hand flies to the back of his neck, as if he just remembered the marks on his skin that make him look like he was  _ mauled by a bear.  _

His eyes are wide, but Cosette is laughing so hard that she’s doubling over with tears in her eyes. Oh, she  _ loved  _ it, and she was never ever going to let him live this down.

“Cosette, I-”

“Don’t worry about it,” she says, wiping a tear, “Grantaire, I am so happy for you. I’ve been noticing how he stares at you for months. I was waiting for it to happen, at some point.”

Grantaire smiles despite the fact he’s been dragged by someone who seems sweet and completely innocent at the surface, saying, “Thank you. I...truly never expected it would happen. Apparently,” he huffed a chuckle, “haircuts are a good catalyst.”

“A high compliment from you, monsieur,” she says, “When I start my hair salon, I want you to give a testimonial. Something along the lines of ‘her work made the man I’ve thirsted over for years want to get into my pants.’ I think it’ll get people flocking to me, you think?”

His horrified face has her doubling over again, and it takes several minutes for Cosette to get it together and start cutting his hair.

But hey, no regrets.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback, as always, is helpful!


End file.
